Connectors which are adapted to connect a plurality of conductors have been in widespread use for many years in the communications industry. Earlier multi-conductor connectors of the prior art employed soldered connections in which each conductor was soldered to a metal contact element of the connector in a step which required both time and care to assure a desired, secure connection.
In recent years, numerous forms of solderless connectors have been developed and gained wide usage. These are called ribbon-type connectors or high density systems in which a plurality of conductors are terminated in closely adjacent relationship. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,113,337 and 3,902,154.
Ribbon connectors of the type referred to herein normally employ a body of electrically insulating plastic which has formed therein a plurality of conductor-receiving channels in which conductors are received and engaged by metallic terminating contact elements. The contact elements extend through the thickness of the plastic body, and have exposed mating portions adapted to engage with mating portions of another connector. This arrangement allows an electrical connection to be established between female and male connectors, or connectors more commonly known as receptacle and plug types, respectively.
In conjunction with the developments in ribbon-type connectors, various apparatus have been proposed for inserting conductors into such connectors. One example of such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,956. In another apparatus for successively terminating individual conductors of a group in separate contact elements along the length of a connector, each conductor is moved along a first path generally transversely of its longitudinal axis into a contact element of the connector. Conductor locating stops are disposed opposite the open sides of the contact elements of a connector for orienting a conductor portion in a first position in spaced relation to the connector. The longitudinal axis of the conductor is substantially parallel to the axis of the respective contact element. Then the conductor is transferred from the first position into the respective contact element while maintaining the parallel relationship. The conductor is trimmed and is gripped to assure proper positioning of the conductor axially of its length throughout the transfer and insertion operation. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,472.
While the ribbon-type connector termination apparatus described above is a substantial improvement over prior art fixtures which held a connector while an operator inserted conductors, it is only semi-automatic and requires manual selection of conductors and their movement into alignment with contact elements. Considering the enormous number of these kinds of connectors which are terminated on an annual basis, it becomes attractive to design apparatus for their automatic assembly with conductors.
Apparatus has been implemented which selects end portions of insulated conductors which extend from a multi-conductor cable in the order in which they are to be assembled to the connector. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,838 which issued on Aug. 22, 1978 in the names of Ralph H. Keen et al. In that apparatus, the conductors in their ordered sequence are in contiguous relation to one another and are assembled to the connector in spaced relation as the connector is indexed. The insertion process requires that the ordered conductors be spaced apart on centers equal to the spacing of the contact elements in the connector. What is needed is an escapement apparatus for receiving a contiguous array of conductors and for spacing them apart while maintaining their order.
The prior art abounds with apparatus for dispensing articles. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,888, disc-like articles are dispensed singly from a chute partially into a receiving nest of a moveable table. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,948, a distribution of annular workpieces is made from a magazine which is inclined at an angle to a plate surface from which a plurality of bolts are upstanding. Articles in U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,407 are transferred from a vertically disposed hopper singly into nests of a reciprocating slide.
What the prior art does not show and what is needed in order to provide an automatic apparatus for terminating a ribbon-type connector is an escapement apparatus for receiving conductors in an ordered contiguous array and for rearranging the conductors in a spaced ordered array.